Baha Mousa, a Basra hotel worker, was beaten to death in 2003 while in the custody of 1 Battalion Queen’s Lancashire Regiment. Photograph: Liberty/PA

An officer of the regiment detaining Baha Mousa, a Basra hotel worker, when he was beaten to death said his soldiers held the view that “all Iraqis were scum”, it was disclosed today.

One officer tried to mount an “arse covering” exercise after Mousa’s death, while others expressed ignorance of basic rules covering the treatment of prisoners, the public inquiry into the incident heard.

British soldiers, like any other soldiers in a criminal war of aggression, had a ‘job’ to do in Iraq. That job needed dehumanising the people of a great country. The people in power who were ultimately responsible for such crimes, are the former US President Mr George W. Bush and the former British PM Mr Tony Blair for their barbarian attitudes and their policies.

By the way, the photo of Baha Mousa should be sent to Mr Bush and Mr Blair to congratulate them on their, and their close relatives’, birthdays, as a reminder for the enormous debt of gratitude all militarists and warmongers world-over owe to them for their war crimes and their crimes against humanity.